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Esperantists often use non-Esperanto transcriptions, such as Hepburn and Kunrei, to transcribe the Japanese language in the Esperanto alphabet. However, the need for a transcription in the Esperanto alphabet is essential for non-Japanese speaking Esperantists to be able to pronounce words.
There are two well-known transcription systems of Japanese in Latin alphabet: Hepburn and Kunrei. However, there is no official Esperanto transcription for Japanese. This page presents one of the unofficial methods of transcription.
Most books on Esperanto published in Japan provide tables for transcription. In 2012, a book by Kenichi Fujimaki, called Revised Esperanto Grammar (まるごとエスペラント文法 改訂版) [1] explains one way of transcription, however, as far as 1923, Yoshimi Ishiguro writes his Beginning Esperanto Textbook (初等エスペラント教科書) [2] explaining a transcription, however the remaining digital copies of his works are barely readable, so they are not included in this article.
The symbol " っ " / " ッ " is not actually transcribed, but instead, indicated by doubling the following consonant. For example, さっぽろ is transcribed as "Sapporo".
According to Hepburn:
According to Kunrei:
These are various methods of transcribing the word Tokyo (とうきょう, kanji: 東京):
The Japanese vowel i is changed to j and the vowel u is changed to ŭ for Esperanto transcription.
If there is a じ (ji) before an ん (n) in a word, it must be written as ĝi. Otherwise, either ĵi or ĝi can be used.
When the syllable ず/づ is used at the beginning of a word, it is mostly transcribed as dzu, directly from Hepburn; but if the syllable is anywhere else in the word, it is mostly transcribed as zu.
Generally, some vowels may not be said at all. This is very common in everyday speech in Japanese [3]
| あ ア a | い イ i | う ウ u | え エ e | お オ o | や ヤ ja | ユ ゆ ju | よ ヨ jo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| か カ ka | き キ ki | く ク ku | け ケ ke | こ コ ko | きゃ キャ kja | きゅ キュ kju | きょ キョ kjo |
| さ サ sa | し シ ŝi | す ス su | せ セ se | そ ソ so | しゃ シャ ŝa | しゅ シュ ŝu | しょ ショ ŝo |
| た タ ta | ち チ ĉi | つ ツ cu | て テ te | と ト to | ちゃ チャ ĉa | ちゅ チュ ĉu | ちょ チョ ĉo |
| な ナ na | に ニ ni | ぬ ヌ nu | ね ネ ne | の ノ no | にゃ ニャ nja | にゅ ニュ nju | にょ ニョ njo |
| は ハ ha | ひ ヒ hi | ふ フ fu | へ ヘ he | ほ ホ ho | ひゃ ヒャ hja | ひゅ ヒュ hju | ひょ ヒョ hjo |
| ま マ ma | み ミ mi | む ム mu | め メ me | も モ mo | みゃ ミャ mja | みゅ ミュ mju | みょ ミョ mjo |
| ら ラ ra | り リ ri | る ル ru | れ レ re | ろ ロ ro | りゃ リャ rja | りゅ リュ rju | りょ リョ rjo |
| わ ワ ŭa | ゐ ヰ ŭi | ゑ ヱ ŭe | を ヲ ŭo | ||||
| ん ン n | |||||||
| が ガ ga | ぎ ギ gi | ぐ グ gu | げ ゲ ge | ご ゴ go | ぎゃ ギャ gja | ぎゅ ギュ gju | ぎょ ギョ gjo |
| ざ ザ za | じ ジ ĝi / ĵi | ず ズ zu / dzu | ぜ ゼ ze | ぞ ゾ zo | じゃ ジャ ĝa / ĵa | じゅ ジュ ĝu / ĵu | じょ ジョ ĝo / ĵo |
| だ ダ da | ぢ ヂ (ĝi) / (ĵi) | づ ヅ (zu) / (dzu) | で デ de | ど ド do | ぢゃ ヂャ (ĝa) / (ĵa) | ぢゅ ヂュ (ĝu) / (ĵu) | ぢょ ヂョ (ĝo) / (ĵo) |
| ば バ ba | び ビ bi | ぶ ブ bu | べ ベ be | ぼ ボ bo | びゃ ビャ bja | びゅ ビュ bju | びょ ビョ bjo |
| ぱ パ pa | ぴ ピ pi | ぷ プ pu | ぺ ペ pe | ぽ ポ po | ぴゃ ピャ pja | ぴゅ ピュ pju | ぴょ ピョ pjo |
| イェ je | ||||
| ウィ ŭi | ウェ ŭe | ウォ ŭo | ||
| ヴァ va | ヴィ vi | ヴ vu | ヴェ ve | ヴォ vo |
| シェ ŝe | ||||
| ジェ ĝe / ĵe | ||||
| チェ ĉe | ||||
| ティ ti | トゥ tu | |||
| テュ tju | ||||
| ディ di | ドゥ du | |||
| デュ dju | ||||
| ツァ ca | ツィ ci | ツェ ce | ツォ co | |
| ファ fa | フィ fi | フェ fe | フォ fo | |
| フュ fju | ||||
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